Getting Back to Face to Face Marketing and Trade Shows

Getting Back to Face to Face Marketing and Trade Shows

With the economy looking like it's firming up many small businesses will be switching gears from cutting costs to increasing sales. One of the best methods to accomplish this even in an "impersonal" web economy is to do some old fashioned face to face promotion and selling. This means showroom events (if you have a showroom), lobby promotions and trade shows.

A lot of companies have not been thinking about trade shows and events for a while and to get in front of this change in behavior and plan for success, we put together this list of To Do's to make your life easier:

Make your plans well in advance. Make a go/no go decision on the show(s) you're thinking about early. It will allow you enough time to get ready and will always cost less.

Refine your strategy or message. Have a new store to tak about? A new product or service to tell customers about? Make sure all of the attendees know by making these elements at least half of your messaging.

Define your trade show booth type early. It doesn't matter if you're going with a pop up display or a modular exhibit, deciding your display format allows you to make a lot of other important decisions.

Work with vendors that have strong reputations. Everyone in the trade show display industry is cutting price to get business. Of course, you don't want to spend more than you have to. But don't obsess about the last $50 and spend hours scouring the web for the best deals. Remember you get what you pay for and the cheapest offering may end up costing more if it's poor quality, late or looks cheap. Make sure you know what you're buying and that you are buying from a company with a strong reputation.

Marke sure your artwork is ready ahead of time. Or if your vendor is doing your graphic layout, get the images and direction to them early. Graphics are usually the long lead time on any job the sooner you have an approved layout, the sooner you're done.

Coordinate shipping, logistics and setup. If you just bought a new display, make sure the vendor sends set up instructions including graphics installation instructions. Make sure you know who is handling the display at every step from the time it leaves your company to the time it returns.

Deliver a refresher or retraining course to sales people. Focus on managing booth traffic, working with collateral and capturing lead information.

Follow up. And then follow up, follow up and follow up some more.

It's a lot of fun to get back into selling mode after hunkering down for a few years. But like time away from anything, you may be a bit rusty, so give yourself an opportunity to warm up and get your head around selling again.

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